Spiderwebs
by moirag
Summary: Tifa and Reno are next door neighbors, a childhood friendship lost and split since middle school. Their parents are best friends and push so hard for them to relate to one another... but will they? And are the consequences? Reti, lemons later on.
1. one: goodbye parents

I am so good at making up names for parents. Woohoo!

This is high school based Reti. Yay! All rights square enix. You knew that, though.

* * *

Tifa rolled her chocolate eyes as her mother chatted away with the neighbor, the one with the bright red hair and big teal eyes. She sat in the passenger's side of her mom's car, the red head leaning in through the driver's window to discuss whatever they did to pass the time, as if they were purposely making Tifa later to school than she already was.

"So this weekend do you and Tysato want to come to that new gambling place with me and Jambo?" Tifa's mother said, a wide smile on her face. Her mom had blonde hair, those big brown eyes and the same curved lips that Tifa inherited.

"Yes! Though what day? Friday is Reno's birthday. Turning eighteen, you know." Komi said through the window.

"Wow! I remember when he and Tifa played together so much. Right Teef?" Lana, Tifa's mother, patted her daughter's shoulder assuringly at Komi, and a perfect set of teeth sarcastically exposed from Tifa's mouth.

"Yeah. Totally." Normally, Tifa would be a bit more friendly and less grouchy, but then again, normally, a neighbor wouldn't come out and run up to your car as you're leaving to go somewhere at eight in the morning. Or maybe it was because the subject of a certain Reno wasn't really her idea of good morning topic. How she despised him and his dumb group of friends. Sure, they played when they were like four. But now, they were forced into this friendship by their mothers. How humiliating. 

The two older women continued to gossip and talk as Tifa pulled down the little flip mirror from the roof on the inside of the car, looking at her tired eyes. Slight bags were formed underneath; the make up from yesterday wasn't washed off. Her clear, porcelain face was pale, an angel's skin. Her lips were rosy and her hair slightly messy. Typical morning when your alarm clock doesn't wake you up. Or well, typical in Tifa's case.

The young beauty sighed heavily, wishing that she were still asleep in her bed, warm with the covers twined around her legs in just the right way, her head sunken into a pool of pillows, the blinds closed and the lights turned off.

* * *

"This morning I was talking with Lana Lockheart. She invited me and your father to go with her and her husband to that new place that just opened up downtown. You know, the gambling one." Komi stated, chewing and talking at the same time. Reno and his parents ate the food his father cooked, sitting at the wooden table.

"When?" Reno asked, hoping that it was the day of his birthday. Nothing would make him happier than having his parents away, the house open for a party.

"Well, Lana said that we could get hotel rooms for Friday only, the rest of the weekend is booked out and Monday I have work in the morning to sleeping out on a Sunday night wont work for me." Komi looked at her husband as he nodded along with what she was saying.

"So are you alright with us not spending your birthday with you?" Tysato asked his son, Reno. "We'd be trusting you too. No crazy parties. No drinking." His stern voice was like concrete.

"No it's totally fine if you're not here Friday," Reno smirked. "I wont do anything bad, no worries. It's _me_ you're talking about." He stuffed some fried veggies into his mouth, chewing obnoxiously.

"Are you sure? Sweetie, we could always go away next weekend." His mother's warm voice was velvet compared to his father's sand paper words. "You can have some people over, like Rude or Tsung or Elena. A little birthday celebration wont hurt."

"On one condition though, you have to invite the girl from next door. What's her name again?" Tysato said.

Reno's eyes went wide. "Tifa? Are you serious? Dad—"

"Hey. You're lucky we're trusting you. Now you invite Tifa, her parents openly invited your mother and myself to go with them, so it's only right."

"Not fair." Reno replied, his voice brattier than a two year olds.

"Reno," Komi seriously said, placing her fork down on her plate. She looked her son in the eyes. "I don't care. At least do this for your parents."

"Ugh. Whatever." Reno stood up, getting out of the chair. "I'm done eating. I'll be in my room." He grabbed his plate, half of the food eaten, and walked into the kitchen, placing the plate on the counter. A mischievous smile spread across his face. How dumb can his parents be?


	2. two: mutual friends

Square Enix owns all rights. Enjoy!

* * *

Cloud sat down at the lunch table that he and his friend usually ate at, next to Tifa. Everyone always suspected the two to date, but really, it was Aeris that captivated Cloud's heart. Besides, Tifa wasn't the 'dating' type. She really wasn't a romantic type of a girl at all, actually. She hardly realized she was flirting when she did or when a boy would be hitting on her. It's not that she was naïve or innocent, she just didn't really know or care.

"Did you hear about Reno's 'huge open house party'?" Cloud asked, turning to Tifa. He and her were always the ones who got to the false-wood table first. They were also the ones that had the best friendship, never would either betray one another.

Tifa rolled her eyes and placed her chin in her palm while talking to Cloud, "Yeah. And I have to go."

"Why?" He quickly erupted, leaning his elbows on the table.

"Because… I don't know. His mom told my mom that he'd be having a small get together and you know how our parents are friends… yeah I don't know. It's dumb. I feel obligated to go though." She replied.

He was quiet for a second. "That's stupid-Can I come?"

Tifa smiled and nodded. "Sure. It's not really my call, but whatever."

Aeris came over and sat down across from Tifa, Yuffie and Zack following.

Yuffie quickly barked at Tifa, "OH MY GOD, that Reno kid that lives next door to you is having, like, this really big party. That guy… Tseng invited me. I heard it's like… going to be really big." Tifa often questioned how everyone took Yuffie seriously.

Zack replied, "Yeah, uhm, like, yes." He sat down across from Cloud and started talking to him about some girl who had her thong hanging out in his math class or something.

Aeris smiled warmly and said, "Zack can be such a dog." She sat next to Yuffie, and went through her bag for her lunch, which everyday was a colorful fruit salad with water. 

"Yuffie, don't get involved with Tseng. You are aware that he and Elena are like… seriously dating." Tifa said.

Yuffie shrugged, "Who cares? She doesn't have to know anything. It's not like just because he invited me he's interested in me _that_ way."

Aeris joined in. "You don't want to ruin a happy romance. That's so selfish."

"Your mom's selfish," Zack chimed in.

* * *

Tifa wrote down the answers to the test she was taking roughly in her English class, her hand writing getting messy because of how hard she was pushing down the pen. She always did that when she took a test, it was from her anxiety of failing. 

The brunette muttered under her breath, "Two households, both alike in dignity… in fair Verona, where we lay our scene… from ancient grudge break to new… to new…" Tifa was terrible when it came to memorization. The prologue to William Shakespear's _Romeo and Juliet_ was seeming to slip her mind and with the worst timing. Tifa groaned under her breath.

She thought about cheating briefly, but then she remembered the last time she tried that in this class. Humiliation. When a teacher catches a star pupil cheating… it just doesn't go over well.

All of a sudden, the boy sitting next to her whispered, "Mutiny. To new mutiny." Tifa turned the boy with the deep voice and saw that it was Rude. Rude had more ear piercings than Tifa could count, tanned skin and a shaved head. A pair of sunglasses was resting on his desk. He was smiling at her, his white teeth in perfect squares.

Tifa gladly took the answer and worded thank you to Rude with her lips. Tifa looked up at the teacher who was sitting at her desk, doing attendance and grading people who already finished the test. The given answer had gone unnoticed.

From there, Tifa didn't need any help with her quiz. She buzzed through it, and went up to the teacher's desk, placing it on the pile of already completed tests. She sat down again, turning to Rude.

"Thanks." She whispered, her mahogany eyes full of honesty.

"It's nothing," Rude replied in soft words. "So I heard you're going to Reno's party? I'm sorry."

Tifa chuckled a bit. "Why?"

The chubby teacher looked over at the two talking and barked, "Tifa! Rude! People are still testing. Shut up." This teacher, Mrs. Garen, was young and fresh. She often acted like a peer rather than an elder. Funny woman.

"Nancy," Rude replied. He always called her by her first name. No one else was allowed to; Rude was her favorite student. Tifa hadn't a clue why; he always was cheating and talking. He hardly passed each marking period. "Tifa was the last one to finish the test."

Mrs. Garen rolled her eyes at Rude. "You're obnoxious. But right. You may talk, class." She continued to grade the tests while everyone in the classroom suddenly started to talk at once, as if it was okay to yell as loud as possible. 

"I was going to say that I'm sorry that you're going because I know how much you don't like Reno." Rude said, getting his books from underneath his chair. Tifa smiled at him.

"You're sweet." She said, getting her things too. She held them up to her body as she continued to talk. "Besides, I'm bringing Cloud with me to keep me company. And I think Tseng invited Yuffie, or so she says."

Rude's wide smile faded a bit. "Cloud? Really?" He seemed fixated on the Cloud subject.

"Yeah, really. Why?"

"I don't know."

"What's wrong? Brining him is a bad idea…?"

"No no no. It's fine! I just want to know… are you two dating?" Rude's question made Tifa laugh slightly.

"We did like… two years back. It was awkward. Never eveeeeeeerrrrrr again." Tifa warmly said, as the bell rang.

Mrs. Garen yelled to the class, "No homework! Bye!" as everyone slowly made their way out, piling out of the room into the messy hallway.

Tifa waved to Rude as she parted ways with him, wondering why he was so caught up about Cloud. Why was _everyone_ always caught up with that quiet blonde.


	3. three: party a bit softer, please

Square Enix owns all rights. This chapter gets things 'started'.

* * *

Tifa looked down at the sky as she walked across her lawn to Reno's, bright stars and a full moon would flutter through and between fluffy clouds, as if they were prancing during a childish game of hide and go seek. She was wearing typical tight jeans and her black, worn out combat boots that had the tongues sticking out and the laces tucked inside. A tight white wife beater made her curvy and voluptuous body shine outward under an unzipped navy blue hoodie, her cold and tired hands in her pockets, protected from the cool summer air.

A few people were hanging out on Reno's front porch, some with beer bottles in their hands, one sitting next to a bucket looking as if she was going to upchuck her organs. Tifa just smiled at the semi-familiar faces and walked through the open front door, wondering whether Cloud was here or not.

The brunette bumped into a few people while walking around (even though they really had ran into her), seeing if there was anyone here that was worth having an actual conversation with. She saw Tseng and Yuffie talking on the couch in Reno's living room, but decided not to acknowledge either. It'd be awkward. Tseng was the one who in fourth grade turned Reno against Tifa, throwing water balloons at her. Okay, so it was very immature for Tifa to hold onto that past memory, but she still did. That guy may be charming, but so are snakes.

Her best friend Cloud was nowhere to be seen, and Tifa hadn't the patience for anyone else's drunken ramblings, except his. So, Tifa continued to have small talk with the few people who weren't high or intoxicated in anyway, but even they hadn't had anything interesting to say besides the fact that Tifa was indeed, yes, Reno's neighbor or the fact that yes, Tifa and Reno don't like each other. Or, this is the best one, why was Tifa here alone when she was dating Cloud? All of the three topics quickly grew annoying, so Tifa decided to hit where everyone was getting their drinks.

If she was going to be at this party, she was going to be here drunk. Hey, the stuff was free. Why not?

Her chocolate eyes traced the table that she had awkwardly eaten at since she moved here when she was five, now covered with assorted bottles and cups. She grabbed one that held a clear liquid and poured it into a plastic cup, adding some fruit punch into the mix so the bitter taste wouldn't burn the back of her throat when she drinks.

Someone pushed into her, saying, "Move it, Tifa." Tifa glanced over to the obnoxious red head that is famously known as Reno. He wore tight pants that rode down his butt, exposing his plaid boxers and a tri-studded leather belt. He wore a baggy plain purple shirt and had a beer in his hand.

"You could have said excuse me," she barked back, before going for a huge gulp of the drink in her green and clear plastic cup. Tifa hated how popular Reno was, with his obnoxious sense of humor and no common sense. How all of the girls thought he was so hot, how people admired him for doing_nothing_. Especially how she was forced to be in rooms with him at every family barbeque or party.

"Well, you could have uhm, not just showed up." Reno barked back, placing his empty bottle on the table and making himself a new drink from colored bottles and ice.

Tifa was well, sick of his asshole attitude. All she asked for was some respect, she did give it to him, you know. "Fuck you, I already showed up late three hours. Just in and out, okay?" She raised her mostly soft-spoken voice. Maybe it was the party setting that gave her this new sense of confidence to yell at this arrogant asshole. It defiantly wasn't the drink, she had hardly drank any.

"Excuse me?" Reno replied. The two noticed a few people staring at this weird situation. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. And not a nice knife, but even a simple butter knife would do the trick. "I think your forgetting your place here, Lockheart." His half drunken words were slightly strewed together.

Tifa took another long sip of her drink, and then made a face at Reno. "Yeah. That's it. I'm forgetting where I fall in this bullshit clique pyramid! That must be it." Her sarcasm rang through out the room.

Anger grew in Reno's eyes and he gritted his teeth. "Tifa, you're so fucking weird. Get some friends besides the hurt and confused blonde boy and that slut Yuffie, okay?" A few people in the room cheered for Reno after he spoke.

Tifa did know her place among her peers; she was seen as an outcast, a quiet girl. A weird one. Because god forbid you don't fit everyone else's standards, right?

"Reno! Shove it up your ass, okay? Happy fucking birthday to you," she too gritted her teeth. A few girls in the room laughed at what Tifa said, secretly, they too knew that Reno was just a boy with a god complex.

The girls snickers made Reno extremely livid. He bit his tongue and grabbed Tifa's wrist, making her drop her cup on the floor, spilling her fruity and highly alcoholic drink right after she took another gulp.

She smirked, "OH! Good job! Star of the lacrosse team and Mr. Clean!" She strutted her feet to keep up with his moving legs. She didn't care where he was bringing her, because to her, it was worth the few people who actually for a split second, realized that Reno wasn't all cool and fabulous.

He quickly went up the staircase, his grip on her tightening, passing many people on the way. They made their way up to Reno's room, and he pushed her inside, slamming the door behind them.

"What the fuck, Tifa!" He shouted, as she just started to giggle. Her laughter just made him more infatuated with her, how dare she. "What's your problem?"

"What the fuck what, Reno?" Her voice was mocking and laughing. Her feet became a bit wobbly, and her vision a bit blurred with each second.

"How can you just show up to my house and say all these things? Are you retarded or just bored?" He ran his hands through his hair, fixing the goggles on his head. "I could ruin your reputation like that," he snapped his thin fingers together, and then crossed his arms.

"You'd think I care about my reputation? I don't care what people think about me. Get it through your stubborn head. Do what you want, but I am untouchable," she put her hands on her hips; her nails had thick and chipped dark purple nail polish on them.

"Oh, really?" He took a step forward and pushed her, making her lose her balance and trip a little, but she didn't fall. She bit her lip, and glared at him.

"Reno, don't you dare touch me." Tifa was getting pissed.

"I thought you were, 'untouchable'?" he grinned, looking at her with wild teal eyes. "Or did you mean it in the sense that no boy would ever touch you?"

"Sorry that I'm not a whore like you, Reno." She barked, pushing him back, harder. He lost his balance and fell to the carpeted floor, next to his bed.

On an impulse, probably a drunken one, Reno pulled on Tifa's leg, pulling her down to the ground as well. He pounced on her, attempting to hit her in the face, but she quickly countered and blocked his hand, pushing him off of her.

The red head get off of the ground and rolled his eyes. "Aren't you tough?" He fixed his pants and short, rearranging them to the way they were.

Tifa mocked him, saying in a dumb voice and mimicking, "_Aren't you tough_?" She got off of the ground, knocking him on the side as she did. She snickered.

"Fucking bitch!" Reno screeched, gripping her wrists again and pulling her body close to his. "Don't you ever, ever fucking hit me again, girl. Don't you dare." Her wrists started to hurt, she could practically feel the bruises forming as his grip tightening.

"Reno…" she spoke softly, almost like a hurt puppy.

"No! Shut up!" He interrupted her. Never in her life had he had her in a more compromising position, where he could crush the strong girl so easily.

"Reno! No! You're taking this too far! Stop!" She cried, trying to wiggle loose of his super strong hold on her. Dear incredible hulk, step aside because Reno is here.

Reno didn't reply, but he did let go of her. He looked at his hands as she rushed out of the room, zipping up her hoodie again and putting the hood over her head.

Tifa quickly made her out of the front door, across the lawn, though the trees and back to her driveway, where in the faint moonlight, she sat down and rolled up her sleeves and looked at her wrists. They were bruised, turning more and more red as blood rushed through her body. They hurt, too. They hurt a lot. In her eyes, tears started to form because the pain was too much for her body to cope with.

In her jeans pocket, her cell phone vibrated. She rubbed her eyes, and then reached into her pocket and look at the front screen of the flip phone.

She read the letters 'CLOUUDDYYYY' and answered the phone, trying her best to compose herself.

"Hey Tifa?" His relaxed voice said.

"Hey Cloud." She sniffled her nose.

"Hey uhm—wait are you crying?"

"No? Dude, come on." She clutched onto the cell phone. It was scary how he always knew when she was upset "What were you going to say?"

"Oh! Yeah, can I sleep at your house tonight? Your parents are gone anyway and well, I just got into a fight with mine. Kicked out for the week end."

"Again?"

"Yeah. I'll give you the details when I get there. I'm walking so, I guess it'll be about twenty minutes." 

"Okay. Cool."

"Do you still want to go to Reno's party?" He innocently asked.

"No. I do not." She replied, glancing down at her wrist that was limp on the tar driveway. She had no intentions of telling Cloud anything.


End file.
